


Responsible Leadership

by makingbroculturegay



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Young Avengers
Genre: M/M, Tony is a weird father figure, but this is just a cute lil thing for no reason, ok ive spent the last week fantasising about a semi-loyal adaption of young avengers in MCU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-12
Updated: 2016-06-12
Packaged: 2018-07-14 14:09:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7175012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/makingbroculturegay/pseuds/makingbroculturegay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>See, Tony and Clint had a bet going.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Responsible Leadership

Vision had a team. He said that they were going to be their successors, because of some ‘statistical analysis’ he’d never shown Tony, but whatever. He’d been training them, and they were staying in the tower. Tony had even grown fond of them.

His mind flashed, briefly, to when he’d enlisted Peter, and how he was just a kid, and how it felt when Tony had realised he’d just put a _kid_ in danger mid-battle, but-

No. It was okay. He’d seen them train, they were ready.

Tony sighed and stepped into the elevator.

“Jarvis, take me to floor 38.”

They were good kids. Eager to prove themselves.

On one hand, they were all teenagers. They did homework (most of them) and other normal, teenagery things. On the other hand, they were efficient soldiers, equipped with awesome powers and expert tactical knowledge and skill.

There was Eli. Tony thought he was a bit of hardass, but every once and awhile he’d counter Tony’s casual prodding with scathing, intelligent insight and wit.

Hulkling. Tony honestly didn’t know much about him. He tried to give the kids some privacy, but he’d heard them talk enough to figure out that- Teddy? That was his name?- had some extraterrestrial origins. Which was, well. Not just the Chitauri and asgardians were out there, but he already knew that. He’d taken some discreet DNA samples and was waiting for them to come back from testing.

Kate Bishop. Hawkeye’s favorite. When she was little, her dad had brought her to a few of Tony’s parties, only to have Clint- that incessant mother bird- play with her the whole time. Eventually he introduced her to his collection of ‘toys,’ and once her natural talent was discovered, he’d taken her under his wing. As far as Tony knew, she got along well with the other kids.

David. He reminded Tony of Bruce. An awkward nerd, sure- but also a genius. And the knowledge that, whenever you were near him, he could kill you in seconds.

Tony had seen that kid go up against Natasha and almost win. But he was also fun to talk science, so Tony spent more time with him than he’d like to admit.

He still hadn’t figured out how that kid knew so much. David wouldn't tell him, no matter how much Tony prodded, and no security camera on the planet had ever picked up what had started his abilities. Tony’d lost more than a little sleep trying to figure it out. But still. Sweet kid.

America Chavez. She didn’t like Tony much, though Tony liked her. She would drop off the face of the planet for a few weeks every once and a while. She rarely smiled when Natasha wasn’t around. Those two stuck together like a pair of wolves, occasionally glancing at the rest of them like they were choosing which lemming to share first.

Otherwise, Chavez kept to herself. She was the most insubordinate member of the team; not even Cap could get her to follow all his rules. She wasn’t rebellious, per se, she just didn’t think she had to defer to any of them.

Considering no one has managed to beat her in a fight, that might be true.

Then there was Tommy. Wanda couldn’t even look at him. She said he looked exactly like her brother. He even had the same powers. Tony was almost sure there was a link, he just hadn’t figured out _what_ yet.

Otherwise, the kid reminded tony a bit too much of himself at that age for comfort. Tommy was arrogant, and like, _actually_ rebellious. He could get away with literally anything, and amicably clashed with everyone on the team except for David, who he seemed weirdly fond of. 

Tony knew Tom had a tortured past, but damn, as his official “legal guardian,” should he enforce a curfew or something?

...Nah.

Tony stepped out of the elevator doors, and into the hallway. He knocked on the first door in the hallway, belonging to “Noh-Varr”, or as Tony liked to think of him, Futuristic Wild-West Thor. 

“Hey, weird alien! Turn off your weird alien music!”

ABBA continued to play full-blast. Tony sighed and resumed his trek down the hallway.

He was going to speak to Billy. As far as Tony could tell, “Wiccan” had a weird place in the team dynamics. He was just… friends with everybody. When he took a leadership position, the others would follow almost without hesitation, but mostly he just went along with what everyone else wanted.

Tony had never been bullied, himself. It wasn’t hard to tell that the angsty warlock had a history of emotional and physical abuse from his peers. He knew that Billy really looked up to Cap, especially: The whole transition from “small boy with a target on his back” to “Powerful hero” was appealing to the little guy, for obvious reasons.

Still, he might’ve been Tony’s favorite. For completely transparent, selfish reasons: Billy was a huge fan.

Out of all of the kids, Billy was the one Tony could occasionally hear muttering things like ”Oh my god, I’m about to spar with _the actual Black Widow,_ ” or “I can’t believe I’m in _Avengers Tower,_ ” or, once, “Captain America drinks the same kind of coffee as my mom, and I’m never getting over that.”

And, see, it was no secret that Tony had an ego the size of the actual tower which was initially constructed as a symbolic representation of his ego. On days where the public opinion on the Avengers swayed, it was nice to have Billy, a physical reminder of all the people who felt safer because the Avengers were there, making toast in his kitchen.

Also, he and Clint had a running bet. Billy and Kate had been spending a lot of time together, and regardless of what Clint says about “Kate never mentioning anything,” Tony was that age once. These kids were still teenagers, after all.

And, well- There’d been a poll. Most of these kids didn’t have the best relationship with their parents, and Tony, Clint, Bruce, and Natasha had talked, and decided that if a relationship were to arise, somebody had to be the Responsible Parent.

Tony knocked on Billy’s door, at the end of the hallway. “Hey kid,” he called. “I’ve got something I need to talk to you about.”

There was a rustling on the other side of the closed door. After a moment, Billy called. “Come in.”

Tony walked into the room.

Billy was sitting on his bed, obviously disheveled, pulling his shirt on over his head.

Okay, Tony was bailing, this could definitely wait for another day. “Suit up, kido, surprise sparring session. I’ve got some new additions to my suit I’ve been wanting to try out.”

There was a rustling noise from the closet.

Billy pretended he hadn’t heard it, but Tony could see panic flash across his face before he got his expression under control. “Of course, Mr. Stark, thank you! But- Just let me, I’ll- I’ll be out in just a sec.”

Tony raised his eyebrow. “Kid, come out of the closet,” he called over to the closet door.

There was a small, surprised laugh from inside the closet door. And that- that wasn’t Kate.

What?

“Excuse me, sir, but,” The voice continued, incredulous , amused, and nervous, all at the same time, “It’s funny, because I think you mean- I guess, obviously- you mean that literally, but, like, the result, actually, works- it works metaphorically, too.”

Tony looked back at Billy.

Billy was smiling, but in an almost pained way, as if he really wanted to laugh, but knew that, under no circumstances, should he actually follow through with it.

The closet door slowly opened, just a bit, and as Tony turned to look, a blond head poked it’s way out the crack. “Um, hello, Mister Stark.”

Tony nodded. “Hello.” Okay, so maybe now was the perfect time. “So, you guys know about protection and all that, right?”

Billy looked like he was about to explode. His face was bright red.

“Yesir,” came the reply from the closet door. “We live in the age of the internet. We’re covered, don’t worry.”

Billy was staring down at his hands with a manic smile on his face, his eyes wide open. Tony could practically hear his thoughts. _Tony Stark is trying to give me and my boyfriend the sex talk,_ was almost definitely repeating in his head. _What even is my life._

Tony stood up. “...Well, I’m going to leave,” he declared. “We can spar another time.” He started towards the door. “You guys can continue Bill and Ted’s adventures. I won’t keep you.”

When he reached the door, Tony turned around. “Remember, Kids. STI prevention is exceeeeellent.”

As he walked away, he heard something like someone screaming into a pillow, and the distinct sound of Teddy’s laughter.

**Author's Note:**

> [moregaymemes](http://moregaymemes.tumblr.com)


End file.
